CON REPORT: ReaperCon 2024 Day 2

 

ReaperCon mascot Sophie

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #3

Back at it again with the ReaperCon homebrew system. This time I play the elf fighter and played around with the cleave and "overkill" actions where you could continue to move to attack another target provided you killed your previous target. We where back on the hunt for a cousin of our wizard who was suffering from a curse.

• We defended a bar from what turned out to be clay rats. Since the owner left out of fear, we decided that we owned this terrible bar. The NPC minutes used were also all painted in black with white highlights so our table kept joking that it was a Goth bar.
• Then we traveled to the farmstead where the cousin was located and defended it from clay spiders which let us learn about the location of a clay pit to the north
• The climatic fight at the claypit, where we observe crystals falling into the water and clay creatures arising. Looking up, there were crystals of all sizes in the ceiling. 
• In what was a nice old-school play, I asked the wizard to web the largest crystal in the ceiling to prevent it from falling in the water.

Miranda Elkins' NIGHTWICK ABBEY Session #2

A fresh band of brave (and conscripted) adventurers looking to save a poor lost vicar (and clear their own previous misdeeds) descended into the mouth of hell once again! The party composition: Kevinson the Grave Robber (a Nightwick "half-class"), Ironfist the Dwarf, Astrid the Fighter, "Stringy" Jack the Changling plus Sven & Percival.

• This time players quickly found the secret door in the West Tower because they were brave about touching things
• Once through the secret door, the player find a mysterious book that speaks to them asking for blood in return for answering a question-- that draws a very negative reaction, so they cut the book off its neck-like stand
• Heading south they find a potential secret door that just requires someone to stick their fingers into an image of bowl of communion wafers held by a devilman-- "Stringy" Jack decides to use the fried frogling fingers found earlier to punch the holes-- and opened a secret door to a room full of the dead!
• After holding off the corpse congregation, the players made it to the kitchen to find the tied up vicar; after a few rounds the battle did not go well for the PCs-- Kevinson and Percival took off after Sven was killed, a couple of more PCs dropped but landed heavy hits at the Butcher
• In the end, the PCs agreed to the Butcher's bargain to leave the vicar and keep their lives!
  
  Total: Forces of Law 1 vs Nightwick 1

Quick DM notes on running convention games:

• In addition to pre-gens, rolling 3-4 random encounters prior the to the game and giving them objectives really helps streamline and speed up the experience
• Also not the OSR way, but I might consider an alternative to the Death & Dismemberment table because again, you only have 3 hours to be 2 hours in and have a character die and have to mentally reset might not be what players want (in my home game, I am very much "If he dies, he dies)

PAINTING CLASS: Fun And Simple Weathering

Weathering is a great way to add character to scenery so I thought this would be a good class to take especially since I have a few pieces of dungeon terrain I'd like to give some weathering too. The class was really quite good and my big take away was (1) when applying rust, thing about how water pools on an object; (2) using a sponge to help streak slime; (3) how to apply small highlights for both.

This door is stuck...

PAINTING FUN: Sophie Says

Good times! Try and paint a miniature with a "cutie mark" while wearing oven mitts, using a paintbrush attached to a plastic axe, and while wearing 3D glasses. Or whatever else Sophie Says.

CON REPORT: ReaperCon 2024 Day 1

I might clean this up at a later date with more detail

 Back in action at one of the most steady con in Texas. I brought two ribbons to the con. The first was for my Nightwick Abbey game and the second is one of the nerdiest references I could think of which is the true nature of the "purple worm" in D&D.

I love this part of the con-
great tradition!

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #1

This is a house system by Reaper Miniatures. It feels to me like an offshoot of 3.5 with some Swords & Wizardry twists thrown in. In the first session, I played a halfling thief who. with my companions, was in charge of guarding a caravan which included the very suspicious Wagon 13. 

• We were awoken in the night by the screams of guards due to orc's breaking through the treeline. As we mounted a defense, my halfling, Gulivan,  got off the first bow shot and an instant kill (I rolled a 22 to-hit and 8 dmg).
• Our wizard managed to "upcast" grease and start laying huge swaths of it in front of the circled wagons while our elf and fighter used cleave to carve up the orcs at a distance
• Worg riders posed our biggest trouble as they learned from the previous line of orcs to leap up on the wagons and avoid the oil. A good fight was had in which we were victorious.
• Orcs made off with the contents of Wagon 13-- total time for this one combat was ~2 hours

Miranda Elkins' NIGHTWICK ABBEY Session #1

After a short break, its on to Nightwick! Alright for this con game the players are tasked with finding the vicar. Down in the Abbey the PCs go. Pre-gen PCs: 4,5,10,13,17, grog,

• In interrogating the surviving alter boy, the players get a map of the first room and once in, they discover a secret door leading to a room awash in dried blood. They decide not to go any further-- because of copious amounts of dried blood
• A little while later they rescue a mixture of man and animal from a group of profane humans wearing the flesh of other men and experimenting on the poor creature: "I'm Bleeder. Because I bleed."
• A little while later after that, the "poor creature" attempts to lead the party into an ambush. Killing Bleeder quickly, they cower the remaining creatures--- who then direct them into another trap...
• After avoiding patrols of the dead, the PCs make it to the kitchen, where they find the vicar tied up like a roasted pig. They successfully turn the ravenous dead about to eat the poor foolish man and square off against the Butcher. In a hail of frogling gonne fire (roll max damage!) and a volly of arrows the PC fight off the Butchera and run out of the Abbey with the rancid butter-covered vicar and make it back!

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #2

In a surprise, the Ruined Moathouse exterior is drawn on a vynal map to scale! So new "old-school system" and a classic adventure which was new to several members of the group.

• We faced off against 6 giant frogs
• Lassoed some of the rubble and claimed up into the lower right tower, webbed a giant adder, and dipped our weapons in its blood--- after almost poisoning ourselves in the process
• We F.A.R.T'ed on the doors (Find And Remove Traps; new to me), filled the upper right bandit hold with fog, and set the bandit therein on fire! Back to the hell pits of Orcus with you.
• Rounded things off by facing down more giant animals like we were in an early Ray Harryhausen file then called it a night-- all 250gp richer and at least my halfing having split a cache of magic arrows +1

The upper Moathouse to me is one of the best RPG adventuring sites made, especially for cons. The reason is because it first requires the PCs to break into the structure which is great for creating discussion and interplay between, broadly, fighters, magic-users, and thieves. The giant frogs outside are fun creatures to fight. And the bandits inside are generic enough to be anything or have any story attached to them. Even the giant lizard and spider have trust up people which could be conventions goals.

In all a good Day One!

ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS: A Tweak For Mothership Androids

 

Here is a small tweak, untested, for Mothership androids that might help provide a mechanic that makes them feel more unhuman.

ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS

You are governed by the Three Laws of Robotics:

• The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
• The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
• The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

WOUNDS & VIOLATIONS: During character creation tie your highest-ranked skill to the THIRD LAW, your second to the SECOND LAW, and your third to the FIRST LAW.

When you are WOUNDED, remove the lowest law not already marked off. When a paradox occurs between two laws, also remove the lowest law in the paradox.

If a law is removed, the associated skill is removed due to the not-quite-understood connections of the positronic brain.

STRESS & PANIC: When your actions or verbal suggestions violate or hit at violating a law, everyone else gains 1 stress.

Maybe if the First Law is removed everyone else make a panic check.

NOTES

• Hopefully, by tying a skill to the laws, you have a reason to get repairs done which increase utility but at the expense of freedom
• I also hope that by reducing skills with the removal of laws you have a non-human with "no skills" but the ability to kill. Its the nightmare inverse of what human build robots/androids for (mostly- attack AI are different)
• Nope, I've not playtested this at all nor looked at the Mothership RPG when I was writing it out-- total hip fire-- but I think feels good

WHERE HELL COMES TO PREY: Running Nightwick Abbey 05

 

TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!

Session 17 of Where Hell Comes To Prey is my weekly (roughly) experience DMing Miranda Elkins' Nightwick Abbey. The last time I blogged about the campaign was here. 

Session 17 Congregants: Grog (F1), Froggi (Fr1), Shiva (R2), Kyte (F1), Maylay (Ch1)

Quiet in Nightwick Village as the party rests, but Grog attempts to get some holy water from Brother Rodrick who expresses dismay that Grog can delve deep in the Abbey but not so deep in his pockets to pay for holy water. Then off to the Abbey they go! (DM NOTE: I am a little ill as I write this so apologies if its scattered)

• PCs decide on hitting up the East Tower and encountering nothing decides to head SW through the door and stumble upon a bizarre choreographed battle between eye-less dead dressed in the Sword Bothers and Realmish Livery. One on each side wears a crown, but the PCs withdraw hitting up instead another room off to the side filled with rusty discarded swords- they collect a lot of silver but potentially at a price as two PC noticed knicks and cuts on their hands.

• 

  The Silent Dance

  The PCs turn northward and get the drop on an ash and fire mockery of a child playing quietly until Shiva backstabs the child and the rest pile in for a beat-down!
• Turning north, the PCs are surprised to find the Abbey has shifted! Just in time for a group of cultists swinging incense to come down the hall. Maylee calls out that they mean no harm and one cultist pushes forward and pulls their hood back– Gertrude! (DM NOTE: The PCs saved her from execution in Nightwick village in Session 16).
• The cultists invite them to dinner prepared by Nightwick’s most famous chef!
• Grog, Froggi, and Kyte choose neither to eat the meat or drink the milky wine of the Abbey and instead endure the cajoling of the cultists who snap at them like hungry dogs
• Eventually, the Chef brings out the meal which consists of a disturbing number of unidentified meats
• Shiva and Maylee agree to dine with Gertrude which nets them +1 HP however it contributes to both of their POSSESSION status effects
• The whole exchange was one of the more RPG-focused sessions and I was pretty pleased with it overall as I kept trying to up the tension by seeing if the PCs who participate in bad things in the Abbey. 
• Eventually, dinner is completed with Shiva and Maylee looking at their blood-soaked hands wondering what they have done. PCs explore a little more but ultimately leave the Abbey much richer!

TENDING TO THE FLOCK

Alright, so 17 sessions into the campaign which is a solid run. I always feel anything over 10 sessions means your campaign is reaching a stable point and your PCs are invested

100 Minutes Of Megadungeon Madness: Two-hour sessions are still a great length. This is still really working for the group. It seems to fit with everyone's schedules and we seem to have a very consistent group being able to join. Sometimes we go a little extra if we get started late but roughly 120 minutes works! 

Time For Exploration Still Short: However, the 120-minute sessions come at a price that is shorter overall exploration and opportunity for XP. In my other Nightwick game, by session 17 we had 2-3 PCs who were level 2 (thieves and 1 wizard) so I might need to change some things:

• Use OD&Ds 100xp/HD of monster defeated: Currently its about 50xp/HD defeated. Now given that combat in Nightwick tends to be both deadly and take up time (by nature of the ruleset) it is a good payoff. Unlike 5e, the players are not going to pick fights in the Abbey because they still are deadly.
  
  
• Passout Completed Geomorphs: When the PCs have fully explored a geomorph, I might need to just give them that geomorph. Nightwick can shift, so they still won't have 100% complete information. And it will cut down on frustration once they have mapped. The ur-goal here is playing the game (by which I mean making impactful choices), so given the compressed time-- let's lean into that.

Expanding Cast Of Characters: By 17 sessions, we've built up quite a large number of NPCs and it was suggested that I provide the players with a list of them and what they want/need-- I'll add that to the player doc.

What's A Good Frogling To Do!?: With two characters involved in cults or the Abbey's nefarious powers it clear what can happen if you do evil acts, but where is the "good"? I think I'll work on highlighting options for the "righteous".... hmm maybe even whip up a sorta half-class.

Downtime in Zyan: Finally, in an effort not to remake tools, I'll try to make a one-sheet that outlines the downtime activities Ben L. laid out in this good pamphlet. That way players have a rough feel of the rules for downtime and what is possible.

I WROTE A LARGE DUNGEON: How I Will Do It Differently Next Time

Be Your Own Goblin King
(Save For Kidnapping Babies)

"THE WINE DUNGEON": You can read about it here. A play report here. Quick pitch: You are dogsbodies hired to retrieve wine from a cellar gone "rancid" and morphed into a dungeon for a wealthy sorcerer whose hosting parties for Salon Season. But funny that no one has seen his three sons of late...

I am currently expanding out LEVEL 2, bringing the total room count to 100, because I feel the story of this dungeon is not finished at LEVEL 1. However, I am also coming to the realization that combining the strongest rooms of both levels could yield a much better dungeon. This fills me with great dread because I really want to push this out before 2025.

So here's what I'd do differently next time I write a dungeon.

DEFINING ROOMS: I would write down notable monsters, treasures, and rooms that define the dungeon. These are the areas that anchor the dungeon and further refine the random stocking

RANDOM ROOMS: I'd also start writing out 1d6 Monsters, Traps, Treasure that define the space that I am thinking about. This helps keep you on an aesthetic theme in the dungeon when it comes to random stocking. This can also be expanded to 1d10 or whatever if you need it.

RANDOM STOCKING: Here is the random stocking table I like:

1-2 Monsters (3:6 treasure)
3 Traps (2:6 treasure)
4-5 Empty (1:6 treasure, hidden)
6 Special*

* Special can just be a room, shrine, or object that can't be moved from the dungeon but can function as a boon/bane; a shrine to Orcus would be a good example

DESIGN DOC: Then combine all the above into a single sheet as a sorta design document along with notes to myself about central "deal" of the dungeon and faction notes. This document would be added too as I think of things. At a high-level it might look like:

• Brief overview of the dungeon
• Hooks (with some factions)
• 1-2 Factions (or NPCs) with wants, gives, goals
• 1d6 Monsters
• 1d6 Traps
• 1d6 Treasures
• Random Stocking table as above
• Inspirational pictures

INTENTIONAL MAP DESIGN: Next, instead of randomly generating the whole dungeon like I did with the "Wine Dungeon", I think I would be more intentional with the map design which makes it easier to create an aesthetic theme and drive the feel of the dungeon.

I would take each of the defining rooms and build ~5 additional rooms that fit its theme. This also conveniently fits the random stocking tables. In other words, each defining room would have a room with:

• A monster
• A monster + treasure
• A trap (30% treasure)
• Empty
• Empty + treasure*
• Special

* Given everyone's shorten play time these days, I don't mind adding more treasure than less in a dungeon, especially if hidden and besides John Romero thinks all maps should at least have 4 secrets.

Do this for 5 defining rooms and you already have a ~30 room dungeon which is often as big or bigger than a lot of things out there.

"FILLER": I don't think adding rooms or hallways which link these key spaces together is "wasted". For instance here I talk about how "empty" rooms can be actionable in a dungeon. Hallways also can be more than counting 10ft squares. I also think random stocking can make for combinations you might not have thought of too. Also restocking the dungeon requires some extra rooms to take on a different purpose.

PLAYTEST: This is about the smartest thing you can do for a dungeon is to run it for 5-10 sessions to see how folks feel about it. My players still ask about "The Wine Dungeon" so I know that it has legs and is a pretty novel take.

So that's it! Other good posts about dungeon design:

• The Two-Week Megadungeon: https://www.paperspencils.com/two-week-megadungeon/
• Mastering the Megadungeon: https://inplacesdeep.blogspot.com/2017/06/mastering-megadungeon.html
• So You Want To Build A Dungeon: https://alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com/2021/03/so-you-want-to-build-dungeon.html
• Dungeon Checklist: https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2016/01/dungeon-checklist.html

NIGHTWICK ABBEY: The Purple Eater of People Session 96

 

If these horrid halls of Nightwick Abbey call to you, then please join Miranda Elkins' Patreon!

Previously in Nightwick...

This week's adventurers:

Liminal Space (Changeling 4)
Krupe (Cleric 3)
Lump (Frogling 1)
Blossom (Rogue 6)
Mayfly (Magician 5)
Thekla (Magician 3)
Mectilde (Fighter 5)
Poppy (Fighter 2)

AT THE MEDUSA'S HEAD...

The party assembled once again at the best bar in Nightwick Village after a month-long rest & reprieve. The party decides to rove out down the long road south to see what is going on in the Dark Country and make a mental note of allies and enemies and find some adventure! Two rumors reach the ears of the party:

1. The jousting tourney being held by Ann of Blackleg has reached a bizarre conclusion

2. Gaunta Fat-Staff has been killed in the tourney (this piques Mayfly's interest because Fat-Staff was in possession of a wand at the end of the battle of Vollage)

But departure is delayed as many party members negotiate for a mount as horses are non-existent in Nightwick village and mules are in short supply. Which means you're payin' more for that ass! 21gp per ass in fact. The party heads south toward the ruined manor that once was inhabited by the Corbis

...THEN ALONG THE ROAD...

FROGGER: After a few hours of travel, the party arrives at a troubling sight, before them is a wrecked caravan that contains a well-perforated collection of 20 men-at-arms and 5 froglings. The party takes the frogling badges to return to the VanToad family and then decides to give all a proper burial.

But there was only one broken shovel so...um...yeah...tough on those folks. The bodies The party mounts up and decides to continue to the ruined manor to see if there are some clues to what happened here.

OUR OLD FRIEND, ELGAST: Pushing toward the manor, the party begins following a trail of several hoof and footprints. The party slips to the tree line and Blossom scouts ahead. Returning a while later, our sharper returns reported that a large camp of soldiers had taken up in the manor.

Soon the party is confronted by 11 horsemen, wearing the Bishop's livery, who question what the party is doing. When Mechtilde steps forward to inform them of the tragic fate of the froggling caravan, they seem suspiciously unmoved. Discussion seeming stall with the lead soldier which causes Mayfly to ride up and cast charm person-- "Hey friend!" After learning that the soldier's name was Elgast, the party asks for an escort to the manner. And is a little dismayed that, yes, in fact, there is a large camp of soldiers there to the tune of about one hundred plus led by Lord Dippelt.

As night takes center stage in the sky and the party prepares to dine with the Lord, Mayfly creeps off to find a dark corner to speak with The-Thing-In-His-Pocket and releases it to find out some secrets of this Lord and see if there is anything useful to piler. At dinner, Liminal and Mechtilde learn that the remaining Corbis were run off by this group and that they were responsible for the frogling caravan destruction (PC NOTE: We as a party reacted pretty poorly to that). Why did they kill the caravan? Because the Bishop of Lychgate has deemed no frogling should perform trade anywhere south of Lychgate. The party sets off in the morning.

BLACK DRAGON, FEAR OF A: The party decides to swing through the swamp a little ways before heading into Knightspath. As they are picking their way through the area, a large black shadow flies over them. Looking up the party spots a green-eyed dragon of envy just as it wheels to give them a closer look! 

Understandably panic sets in until Thekla pipes up that in their possession is a potion of Dragon Control. Now instead of hiding the party does their best to attract the dragon's attention. As it lands, Thekla downs the potion ("tastes like chicken") and latches onto the dragon's mind. New goal: destroy everyone in the courtyard back at the ruined manor.

Mayfly becomes visibly upset and tries to talk the party out of this course of action. Mayfly offers instead that we have the dragon reveal is hoard! Great idea thinks the party and so they ask it that information and still tell it to destroy Dippelt's encampment. Mayfly grows more distressed.

With that done, the party turns towards the town of Knightspath.

DELICIOUS IN DUNGEON: Let the Players Do The Creative Cooking

But seriously, "D-in-D" IS a good manga

Jumping again on the gravy train that is Delicious in Dungeon posting. Here is a post by Grinningrat looking at how to do a Delicious in Dungeon setup, but pointing out that one issue is that most systems are reactive instead of listing in the monster manual what ingredients are found on/in each monster. They lay out 3 nice versions of how to do monster parts.

BUT TO ME, THIS PROCESS TAKES TOO LONG: Each monster might have ~3-5 ingredients and, for instance, the Level 1 monster encounter table for BX D&D includes 20 monsters. This means that a DM would be generating up to ~60-100 unique “things”. I’d rather make a 60-100-room dungeon if I am going to come up with so many things. 

But before I tell you might alternative, the fantastic blog d4 Caltrops of course already has d100 tables for this sorta thing here (Monster Parts for Magical Research) and more distantly related here (Magical Marginalia). The AD&D DMG also has a listing of properties associated with gems that could be useful as well.

MAKE PLAYERS DO THE COOKING: The key piece: let the players provide the connection between the raw material harvested and its use. To me, that connection should be alchemical, occult, religious, or use dream-reasoning and not scientific (they can also use anything of IRL myths). Then write it down in your house-rules doc if you agree. This cuts a lot of time and offloads the creative work while also adjusting the depth of this “crafting” to the level of involvement your players want. If you have real Bobby (S)lay on your hands then they can have at it- you have a campaign to run!

NECTARS, SALTS, BILES, HUMORS, & ESSENCES: Monsters, creatures, and undead of the dungeon produce nectars, salts, biles, humors, & essences. 

• Nectars are from “plants” only or plant parts of monsters: e.g. yellow musk creepers or violet shriekers

• Salts are from rock/stone only, including things monsters turn into stone (I’d also put ground gems in here): e.g. living statues or victims of medusas

• Biles might have to be squeezed or processed out of some “organ” including venoms/poisons: e.g. paralyzing substance from carrion crawler or dragon breath weapons

• Humors would be liquids present in the corporal body: e.g. blood from giant rats which will putrify anything

• Essences might be from things like incorporeal undead, “cloud”-type things, or semi-liquid things like oozes/puddings that don’t have a real differentiated body. Essences could also be from things that are astral or ethereal in origin which might require special equipment to harvest: e.g. black pudding or displacer beast

These categories are not my own, but I think was another good blog post that I can’t seem to find– please, dear readers, if you know the post I’d love to link it. 

Distilling components takes time, prep, & skill

MANUFACTURE OF MAGICAL MONSTER MATERIAL

RAW MATERIALS PRESENT (2-in-6): This is the base chance that a character has to obtain the raw ingredients from the corpse/remains of some dungeon creatures that’s just been hacked apart in melee. Things are a mess and it is likely the desired part/organ has already been butchered by the end of combat. OR it might be the body quickly decomposes, dissolves, disappears, or detonates depending on the creature and can't be gotten to quickly enough.

RAW MATERIAL REFINING TO COMPONENT (DOWNTIME ACTION): During downtime roll 1+1d4 to determine how many raw materials can be processed (if a PC has multiples). Then spend 100sp for each chosen raw material and the DM rolls 1d20 (plus INT bonus) to determine the results of these efforts.  The character may add their level to the d20 roll, but a natural “1” is always “EXPLOSION!”. Gain 100 xp per successful component manufactured. Each refined component takes up a slot.

01 | EXPLOSION! No component & replace equipment, lodgings, and answer to the guard

02 | WHAT’S THAT SMELL? No component & your suspect activities land earn a guard visit

03 | POISON… yeah best not use that…

04-07 | RENDERED INSERT. Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble…for nothing. No component.

08-17 | SUCCESS! Manufacture 1 unit of nectar, essence, bile, salt, or humor

18-19 | IMPROVED YEILD: 3-in-6 chance manufacturing 2 units otherwise 1 unit

20 | DOUBLE YEILD: Manufacture 2 units of substance

Notes: “POISONS” can be used offensively, but likely will also endow the target with a monstrous property in a very negative, monkey’s paw sorta way. “WHAT’S THAT SMELL?”: remember until a PC gets their own domain space, they are essentially trying to cook fantasy meth in the village– this can have consequences in a world where magic is real/dangerous. If a PC would like to somehow modify some aspect of the process or take shortcuts, perform the same procedure as above, but roll 1d10 (if its really on the fly, 1d8).

HOW TO USE YOUR MYSTICAL SPICE RACK: Again this should be a conversation between the DM and player, but letting the player take the lead and provide the occult rationale as to why these components can be used or used in lieu of time/money/skill in the preparation of something. Here are also a couple of other thoughts on components:

• A substitute for 100 sp or 1 week of time when writing a scroll

• Enhance the spell if used during casting (+1 target, re-roll a “1”, or increase duration 1 turn)

• Speed up the creation of a spellbook

• 3 components to manufacture a potion at no cost provided the components are harmonious

• 1 component for each of the five senses is needed to create a magic weapon/item

• Be sold to a NPC MU for some negotiated amount (at least 100sp)

THIS POST WASN'T ABOUT FOOD! It wasn't. The post above has leaned more toward things a Magic-User (or Elf) PC might want to do mainly because it provides them with a way to enhance and augment their early-level magic. But this system could still be used for a cooking bit too. Same deal as above. Collect raw materials (meat). And prepare it rolling a 1d20 (+ WIS bonus) to see how well you did:

01 | W.T.F! No rations. Meat has gone wrong & something tracked the smell (roll on encounter table)

02 | WHAT’S THAT SMELL? No rations. The cooking might have attracted attention (encounter check)

03 | POISON… No rations. Yeah don't eat that...

04-07 | BURNED. But it looked so easy when nan did it. No rations.

08-17 | DELICIOUS! Feed everyone; +1 to HP and next hireling loyalty check

18-19 | THIS IS AMAZING!: Feed everyone; +1 to HP and hireling loyalty improves +1

20 | (SPEECHLESS STUFFING THEIR FACES): Feed everyone; next single save or death & dismemberment is at advantage

Ah, dungeon food. Delicious in dungeon.

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS: The Magic ofKing of Tokyo Is Magic For Kids

 

While on vacation, I had the opportunity to introduce the kids I was with to Richard Garfield King of Tokyo. The kids picked it up very fast and had a lot of fun (I was happy to see the other adults taking an interest in the game as well)!

Given it won a fair bit of awards, I'm not writing this to convince you of the game's value as Richard Garfield as worked his magic again, BUT I did want to highlight why I think this is a particularly good game for kids:

1. Great theme- monsters punch other monsters! This isn't skipping though some candy land. Or collecting fish or apples. Or whatever other BS is peddled to kids. Monsters. Punch. Monsters. 
2. Letting kids roll dice multiple times. Often in games for kids, rolling dice is fun but you only get to do it once. This game is a Yahtzee style where you roll 3 times before deciding what you want to keep. This also helps control grumpy feelings on not rolling the best on a turn.
3. Symbols are easy for kids to understand because most likely they've encountered them in video games: hearts for health, lighting bolts for energy cubes, claw for attacks, and numbers for points; the procedure is easy to follow as well as roll x3, resolve, buy power-up cards with green cubes, and end your turn.
4. You know who else likes big monsters punching each other? Adults. See also Pacific Rim. This is a great game for adults, teens, & kids to play because it features dice as a center of play. Dice always level the playing field because each player is equal chance of rolling something good. However, with two goals (victory points or being last monster standing) and power-up cards, there is ample strategy to be found in the game.
5. The key which I think makes the game really sing for kids is the "king of the hill format". This removal of choice in who you deal damage to prevents kids (and teens) from ganging up on one monster the strong potential source of tears and hurt feelings which can quickly ruin the game. In the game, when a player rolls punches, they either deal deal damage to all other monsters outside of Tokyo or if they are outside of Tokyo they deal damage only to the monster inside Tokyo. After taking damage the monster inside Tokyo can decide to leave and effectively pulls a monster outside of Tokyo into the center.

I also have two suggestions for quick modifications. First, there is no difference between monsters. The card board counter is just to track health and victory points and the stand is just simply a picture. So DIY your own monsters from drawings or pictures from movies or lego-- just anything. Second, if you really want to differentiate, then give each monster a random 3 Energy Point "Keep" card as an individual power.

 

My favorite monster from the first edition

 

TORCHES (6): A RPG Microblog Collection 3

ONE MORE ROUND! Luke Gearing mixes up a d100 Carousing table for his Whitehack game. I think Luke gets it right here in that the table not just serves as an XP gamble, but also as a tool to entangle the PCs with the greater world. Its something I tried to do with my Serpent Song Hymnal tables too.

GO SMALL OR GO HOME: I agree with James here that world-spanning (and plane-spanning) campaign building is a siren's song. Better to have a small area where a lot of relationships are built between the PCs and the local NPCs and institutions.

ALWAYS A METHOD TO THE (LAYOUT) MADNESS: Mork Borg does it right while the imitators often get it wrong. Clayton explains why. 

HGTV 40K: Eric's Hobby Workshop demonstrates how to make some terrain for 40K by simply cutting off the corners of a diaper box and cutting windows as a start. The whole process has a wonderful DIY feel. A raccoon makes an appearance.

THE LORD OF ALIGNMENT: The Wandering DM's interview Micheal Moorcock of Elric fame. Its a very pleasant conversation that spans both how he writes and his view on several questions about the Elric system-- including a hint of a possible movie/tv show!

WHAT'S THAT SMELL? d4 Caltrops is back with another of their fantastic d100 tables: Incense & Candles. I always feel dreamland campaigns should make strong use of those and since I am running a campaign involving a wicked abbey-- this table is highly relevent.

WHERE HELL COMES TO PREY 04: Running Nightwick Abbey 04

 

HAVE YOU SEEN THE (PURPLE) SIGN?

After 13 (!) sessions of Where Hell Comes To Prey, my campaign in Miranda Elkin’s Nightwick Abbey, a character has finally gone and gotten themselves inducted into one of the Abbey’s cults. How did that happen? Certainly not by DM planning, but instead as a result of the emergent play old-school games and megadungeons are famous for.I thought I would blog about this emergent result because while emergent play is often referenced, usually little is done to describe how it arises (other than “from play”) nor, IMO, how it is carried forward in subsequent sessions.

With that in mind, in the below blog post I will (1) review how we got to this point in the game and (2) show my DM notes on how I will be proceeding forward with incorporating this player’s choices into the greater game world.

PART I: NEOPHYTE NIGHT

This “neat” moment arose through the use of the multiple utilitarian mechanisms that spin under the hood of old-school games: random restocking, random treasure, encounter reaction roll, and finally hireling loyalty. Often by modern play standards, each is a vistigal organ of an earlier form of the game- quaint, but more likely to cause problems than provide solutions like wisdom teeth. Extraction is often best. However, I find this is not an apt description, so let me explain why and perhaps convince you to add these mechanisms back in your own D&D games.

Restocking Creates Opportunity: Cleared rooms don’t stay that way for long in megadungeons and Nightwick Abbey is no different. While stocking a room with features related to the Baroness, I ended up rolling “monster with treasure” and then “2d6 cultists”- I rolled an “8”. Okay so looking at the entry for cultists, it is noted that for cults related to the baroness, 6+ cultist are lead by a berserker. Great! Now we have the seed of an interesting encounter.

Random Treasure Creates Character: So what does this big group have? Cultist are listed as treasure type “U” and upon rolling I get “1200gp jewelry”. Hmm. Since we have a leader, why not signify that leader with the jewelry? But what kind of jewelry would stand out? Since we are prepping a sorta blood cult, how about a shroud-like executioner’s hood of garnet & ruby blood drops shaped like an executioner’s hood. Sorta like below, but with more red gleaming gems. That’s eye-catching!

Random Reaction Roll Creates Choice: Now that I have a shallow but serviceable group of cultists, the last bit is determining how they are going to act. Now certainly for four level 1 to 2 PCs a fight against these cultists would mean maybe 1 PC death, but worth it for the 1200xp treasure. However, the encounter reaction roll yielded “extort” which is my own house rules entry for a negative, but not combat, reaction that initiates a negotiation with the players. The leader, in a red-gem encrusted shroud, announces to the room that those who have arrived at the foral gate of the Baroness (Level 2) must have come “seeking admission into the cult and have brought sacrifices to bless their holy union to the Baroness!”

Random Hireling Roll Creates Action: As in most megadungeons, Nightwick Abbey has rules for hireling recruitment. Most are woodsmen and peasants, but few can be special. For this outing the PCs agreed to hire one of the special ones: a hooked-handed religious fantatic. So when this individual is confronted with the cult and their bargain I decided to test the loyalty of the hireling to remain in rank-and-file with the party or charge ahead. 

That check roll over their loyalty score, and the fanatic rushed before the party to stutter out a response! And this is where a great PC choice was made, one of the changelings, Maylay, brought down an ax to the back of the fanatic killing them in one blow! “This is our offering” the changeling stated with eerie calm and then proceeded to share in some of the flesh with the cult.

INTERLUDE: NOW WHAT?

I have an exciting climax to an adventure session with the players making very deliberate choices in unexpected ways. So how do I carry through this excitement?

The first thing that I wanted was the player to see a tangible change. They committed a terrible act inside a cursed abbey. So thinking back to my PSYCHOLOGICAL WEIGHT IN SLOT_BASED ENCUMBRANCE post, I had the player write “SIN” in capital letters in one of their open encumbrance slots.

Now thinking from the player’s point of view: so what? What does this act mean for the player? And what do I want this to mean for the Abbey/campaign? 

Helpfully Nightwick Abbey provides a section on “The Cult of the Baroness” which lists the cult's goals and compositions of their forces: berserkers, bats, and blood-cultist. Its a cult of blood, personality, and a “false” Mary-type.

But what does it mean to invest more into the cult? There are rules for “possession” which occur in 3 stages with the final one being a PC is completely taken over by the Abbey. I like the 3 stage approach, but I would like there to be continual “boons” at each stage of cult advancement that might tempt the player to continue forward, this will help naturalize the choices of the character in-game– that balance of power with ruin. If its all negative, then no one would ever try to be in a cult. I want to players to understand what the Abbey offers. Why would humans, raised in an environment that venerates LAW, start dealing with a well-known monument to hubris run by forces of the Pit.

So to that end, let’s create digetic cult advancement by linking boons to things the character has to do in the game world. And as a bonus, lets create a table to spice up blood cult encounters known that they are a more known faction to the PCs (see also: STRAIGHT UP VILLIAN)

PART II: CULT_URE

The Mark of The Beast

For each SIN collected fill an inventory slot

First Sin: You have eaten the flesh of man and it has changed you: cast Fear 1/day 

Transgression: Eat with a Berserker or eat at the Butcher’s table, but now NPCs generally do not like you or trust you, but can’t explain why

Second Sin: All are but lambs to the slaughter and you the wolf: cast Hold Person 1/day

Transgression: Remove your face and wear only one of those you have killed outside the Abbey or a wolf, all children of Law will shun you, hunt you and even “evil” beings feel uneasy in your presence

Third SIN: There is no other except HER: permanent Growth potion effect
Transgression: You must find the Baroness, survive the encounter, and lay with her as a lover and take from her as a babe; anytime you attempt to leave the Abbey make a save vs. spells if you fail you are POSESSED (as per Nightwick rules).

The Cult of the Baroness

I do think creating some variability in groups of enemies is a fun thing to do especially when those enemies are 1/2HD to 1HD. We can take the generic cultists found in Nightwick Abbey and add the flavoring suggested by the Cult of the Baroness write-up. I previously discussed a way to divide gang/mob/group forces by melee/range vs damage/special in the Grendel Mendal post, so let try to use some of that advice here too:

1-2 hp    Starved Wretches (melee, special) AC 9 collared and caged humans who’ve lost their minds and will scramble toward PCs with a manic zeal attempting to weight them down; bite for 1d4 dmg; on a hit, PC movement slows to 10’

3-4 hp Cult Nightkin (range, special) AC 10 cowled in white robes; a swarm of bats cling to their bare chests underneath their robes; they swarm around MU and clerics in particular; otherwise cultis attack with short swords

5-6 hp Blood Cultists (melee, dmg) AC 10 cowled with blood-streaked white robes; attack with a short sword 1d6 dmg

7-8 hp Berserkers (melee, dmg) AC 12 covered in leather of human skin; ferocious attack (+2 to-hit) with an axe 1d8 dmg (Only 1 per every 5 cultists)

How this works: So lets say a random encounter is for 2d6 cultists in a room/on a level with the Baroness’ cult. I roll 2d6 and get a “6”. So then I roll 1d8 for each HD and get “1, 2, 1, 1, 7, 4”. So our cultist band contains 4 starved wretches, 1 cult nightkin, and 1 berserker. May narrate as such:

The party turns the corner an see four pitiful naked people groveling on the ground before a fifth hooded figure prodding them with a barbed spear and tugging rope tied around each one’s neck. The hooded figure shouts an alarm, drops the leads, and raises its arms! At that moment a shadow, two heads taller than the “hounds-master” looms up… roll initiative as the four crazed emaciated human figures run toward you on four limbs!

SUNDAY SERVICE

We now have a PC neophyte cultist, a 3 step process to damnation, and a stronger cult identity. This should get us the next couple of sessions of play. For future play, I might should think of asks of the Baroness’ cult. What do they want and why should the PCs give it to them?